Abuja has a demanding patient base for a dental practice. Diplomats and international staff in Maitama and Asokoro, civil servants and professionals in Wuse 2 and Garki, young families in Gwarinpa and Lokogoma. Many arrived from elsewhere and have no dentist yet. When a tooth cracks on a Saturday, or when someone finally decides to look into implants or braces, they search online and choose from the first practices that look credible.
You may already have a proposal on your desk from a provider offering to make your practice more visible, on a 12-month commitment. Before you sign, ask the right questions. Here are the ones that matter, with the answers that should reassure you and the ones that should worry you.
About what will be delivered
1. "What exactly do you deliver, and when can I see it?"
Reassuring answer: a clear description of what the plan includes, firm timelines, and a way for you to check online that it has been done.
Worrying answer: "We handle everything, just trust us." Without written deliverables, you can never hold anyone to anything.
2. "What happens if you miss a deadline?"
Reassuring answer: a specific, written remedy, such as the following month free.
Worrying answer: hesitation, or "that never happens". Every provider has delays; what shows seriousness is what they have committed to do for you when it happens.
About results and measurement
3. "Can you make us the first dentist people see when they search in Abuja?"
It is a trick question, and a useful one. Reassuring answer: "No. Nobody controls what Google or an AI assistant decides. We commit to what we control: what gets published and how it is measured."
Worrying answer: "Yes, within three months." A provider promising a position is promising something outside their control.
4. "Where will I see the results, and who owns the data?"
Reassuring answer: in your own tools, such as a Search Console property in your practice's name, plus a dated report on a fixed schedule.
Worrying answer: "We'll send you screenshots." If only the provider can see the numbers, you depend on their goodwill.
5. "What will we measure at three months?"
Reassuring answer: a measured review with indicators agreed in advance, so you can read the trajectory.
Worrying answer: no review until the year is over. Twelve months without a checkpoint is twelve months flying blind.
About the commitment and your competitors
6. "Why twelve months, and how do I get out?"
Reassuring answer: an honest explanation (visibility builds over time, then accelerates) and written exit terms. Our guide on why a 12-month commitment explains what is reasonable.
Worrying answer: a long lock-in with no delivery commitment in return.
7. "Do you work for other dental practices in Abuja?"
Reassuring answer: a limited number of practices per area, each with a different positioning, or an exclusive option.
Worrying answer: "Yes, we work with every dentist in town, it's our specialty." No provider can honestly fight for the same position on behalf of several rivals.
8. "Will every account be in my name?"
Reassuring answer: yes, all of them, with a written list of accesses.
Worrying answer: accounts in the provider's name. When you leave, your history leaves with them.
For a fuller list that works for any business, see questions to ask before signing a visibility contract. For a healthcare example, read the questions a Nairobi clinic should ask.
Questions specific to a dental practice
A good provider should understand your field. Ask how they think about different kinds of patients: emergencies (pain on a Saturday night), routine care (check-ups, fillings, scaling), and high-value treatment (implants, orthodontics, crowns and veneers) where patients compare for weeks and often travel across the city for the right practice. If they cannot tell those apart, they will not help you attract the patients who matter most to your revenue. Ask them too how they respect your profession's rules on publicity: a measured tone, no promises of clinical outcomes.
Finally, ask how they would handle the patients who matter most in Abuja specifically: expatriate staff whose employers or insurers have a list of approved practices, families who need a dentist for children as well as adults, and professionals who want early or weekend appointments. A provider who has thought about your patients before the meeting is a provider who will think about them during the year.
How Traffic Engine answers these questions
Traffic Engine is Kolonell's service for making your practice visible when patients search for a dentist in Abuja, on Google and in AI assistant answers. Whatever your plan includes is live on schedule, or the next month is free. You get a dated report every week, follow results in your own Search Console, and have a measured review at three months. Each sector is capped at 3 standard seats per area, with an exclusive option while the vertical is still empty. No top position is promised.
The Visibility Audit costs $750, delivered within 48 working hours and deducted from the $1,650 one-time setup if you go ahead within 30 days. Plans run from Presence at $1,200 a month to Momentum at $2,100 and Flood at $3,850, on a 12-month commitment. See the offer and put these questions to us.
Before your meeting
Print these eight questions and take them to every provider meeting, Kolonell's included. Write the answers down. The difference between providers who commit and providers who promise becomes obvious very quickly. For a first read on where you stand, check the free website score at the top of the Traffic Engine page, or message us on WhatsApp for a reply within 24 working hours.